My GF still has Snow Lepard on her Macbook Pro

I am going to get her Mavericks when it comes out. My question is, how much better is it than what she has? I relies that she missed out on Lion and Mountain Lion, so she would be the improvements of both of those too correct? Also, how well will her MacBook Pro run Mavericks?

I know this may kinda be a dumb question but I am a Windows guy here, don't have much experience with OSX operating system other than when I have used her computer

I am going to get her Mavericks when it comes out. My question is, how much better is it than what she has? I relies that she missed out on Lion and Mountain Lion, so she would be the improvements of both of those too correct? Also, how well will her MacBook Pro run Mavericks?

I know this may kinda be a dumb question but I am a Windows guy here, don't have much experience with OSX operating system other than when I have used her computer

The better question - what, specifically, will Mavericks do (that she needs) that Snow Leopard currently can not?

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I think the best question is... what will she gain going from Snow Leopard to Mavericks? I can list a few:

1) Ability to zoom in and out of a page in Safari. This used to lag in Lion and Mountain Lion, but if a 1.4GHz C2D MacBook Air with only 2GB of RAM can do it smoothly, there is no reason to expect any less of an experience on any other computer.

2) Notification Center: keep all of her Facebook, Twitter, etc... notifications together. Also allows her to receive notifications from her iPhone or iPod or iPad if she has one.

3) Reminder, Note, etc...

4) Maps app. No need to hit up Google Maps and deal with horrible web version anymore. This is basically Maps on the iPhone/iPod/iPad, but much smoother (seriously, I have an iPhone 5, and it's not as smooth as my Macbooks) and much much much more awesome (since you can view a bigger portion of it).

5) Mission Control: less cluttered than Expose, and has been polished since Mountain Lion

6) Tags for files and documents. Priceless. Seriously. You use it once, and I bet you'll never want to part with it.

I run Mavericks on a late-2010 MacBook Air with barely 2GB of RAM and a Core 2 Duo at 1.4GHz, but it does fly through the OS.

I think the best question is... what will she gain going from Snow Leopard to Mavericks? I can list a few:

1) Ability to zoom in and out of a page in Safari. This used to lag in Lion and Mountain Lion, but if a 1.4GHz C2D MacBook Air with only 2GB of RAM can do it smoothly, there is no reason to expect any less of an experience on any other computer.

2) Notification Center: keep all of her Facebook, Twitter, etc... notifications together. Also allows her to receive notifications from her iPhone or iPod or iPad if she has one.

3) Reminder, Note, etc...

4) Maps app. No need to hit up Google Maps and deal with horrible web version anymore. This is basically Maps on the iPhone/iPod/iPad, but much smoother (seriously, I have an iPhone 5, and it's not as smooth as my Macbooks) and much much much more awesome (since you can view a bigger portion of it).

5) Mission Control: less cluttered than Expose, and has been polished since Mountain Lion

6) Tags for files and documents. Priceless. Seriously. You use it once, and I bet you'll never want to part with it.

For $30, why not?

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Not to mention Tabbed Finder, App Nap, Memory Compression, etc., etc., etc... Mavericks, at least as of DP3, is running excellent. No reason not to jump all over it.

Staff Member

I think the best question is... what will she gain going from Snow Leopard to Mavericks?

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It's also important to note what she will lose (which often isn't mentioned in Apple's marketing), for example Rosetta (PowerPC app support) is gone. Also note that Mavericks - along with the current version of Mountain Lion on the MAS - includes iTunes 11, in case that's an issue (I personally can't move to 11 due to dependence on a third-party app that's not compatible with 11).

If neither of those are required then the advantages may indeed outweigh the disadvantages, but it's important to look at both sides rather than leap in without full understanding.

I run Mavericks on a late-2010 MacBook Air with barely 2GB of RAM and a Core 2 Duo at 1.4GHz, but it does fly through the OS.

I think the best question is... what will she gain going from Snow Leopard to Mavericks? I can list a few:

1) Ability to zoom in and out of a page in Safari. This used to lag in Lion and Mountain Lion, but if a 1.4GHz C2D MacBook Air with only 2GB of RAM can do it smoothly, there is no reason to expect any less of an experience on any other computer.

2) Notification Center: keep all of her Facebook, Twitter, etc... notifications together. Also allows her to receive notifications from her iPhone or iPod or iPad if she has one.

3) Reminder, Note, etc...

4) Maps app. No need to hit up Google Maps and deal with horrible web version anymore. This is basically Maps on the iPhone/iPod/iPad, but much smoother (seriously, I have an iPhone 5, and it's not as smooth as my Macbooks) and much much much more awesome (since you can view a bigger portion of it).

5) Mission Control: less cluttered than Expose, and has been polished since Mountain Lion

6) Tags for files and documents. Priceless. Seriously. You use it once, and I bet you'll never want to part with it.

If she's happy with Snow Leopard, I'd just leave it as is. Sure, Mavericks has a lot to offer over Snow Leopard but she might not care about any of that. I know my wife couldn't care less about any of the new features listed.

I have installed Mavericks DP3 on a second partition on my Late 2007 17" MBP, which is supposed to be Mavericks certified laptop, but my experience with it is not so good. It is slow and the spinning wheel is something I see often... On the other hand, Snow Leopard runs much faster on my primary partition.

I think Mavericks is not worth unless you have a 2012 or later model...

I have installed Mavericks DP3 on a second partition on my Late 2007 17" MBP, which is supposed to be Mavericks certified laptop, but my experience with it is not so good. It is slow and the spinning wheel is something I see often... On the other hand, Snow Leopard runs much faster on my primary partition.

I think Mavericks is not worth unless you have a 2012 or later model...

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Out of curiosity do you have an SSD and maxed ram? I am wondering how Maverix will perform with an older C2Duo with SSD/maxed ram.

Out of curiosity do you have an SSD and maxed ram? I am wondering how Maverix will perform with an older C2Duo with SSD/maxed ram.

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My MBP has 4GB RAM but it supports up to 6GB.

I am actually using a Hitachi 200GB 7200RPM. My MBP has a SATA I controller (1.5GB/s). I am not sure if I can find a SATA I SSD nowadays. I guess a SATA II or III SSD is backward compatible. I might pick a 250GB Samsung 840...

I am going to get her Mavericks when it comes out. My question is, how much better is it than what she has?

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How much RAM does she have?

4 GIGs will be borderline for anything post snow leopard unless you have an SSD.

If she has no SSD and only 2GB, then i would not suggest upgrading until she either fits an SSD or 4 (preferably 8) GBs of RAM.

I'm running Mavericks at the moment (on the MBP in my sig) and it is definitely an improvement over Lion and Mountain Lion, but time (and RAM requirements) move on. Stuff like versions, iCloud sync, application sandboxing/gatekeeper (this is a massive benefit in terms of security), etc. all do not come entirely for free - they will consume additional memory no matter how well apple optimize things.

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